K.One crowning - home and abroad

Premier Masterton hip-hop artist Kaleb Vitale - aka K.One - is going nova.
Six months ago the 25-year-old former woodsman signed with Warner Music affiliate Illegal Musik, in Auckland, to where he upped sticks and moved.
In that time, not only has he surprised himself at his level of success, but the father-of-two has also stunned his label, which has now laid plans to export Vitale to the rest of the world through their upcoming Australian base.
His break-out tune, Night of Your Life, bulleted him alongside labelmate J. Williams to No.4 on the New Zealand Top 40 Charts within a week of its release. The song, now gold going platinum, has staunched the charts for 12 weeks and today sits at No.23 - while another Vitale-penned song, Walking Away, featuring OpShop singer/songwriter, Jason Kerrison, peaked at No.38, after entering the charts early last month.
The Walking Away video shoots Vitale moving forwards and the OpShop frontman backfooting - with Kerrison even learning and lilting his refrain backwards to fully capture the imagery of the song for the screen, Vitale said.
Illegal Musik word-sketch Vitale as one of their "hottest finds of 2010", justly boasting of his lightning-fast success that has also fired the release of his street mixtape, Welcome to the Bright Lights, his single, Never, featuring Junipah, and a heads-up to "not get it twisted people, this kid is the future ..."
The hype is far from idle. Vitale now carries the distinction of being the first hip-hop lyricist since Scribe to have broken into the mainstream charts - a difficult proposition for any Kiwi artist of the genre - but an aim all the same when he first spoke to the Times-Age last year.
However, after frantic months of tours and live dates, Vitale is more interested today in being with his daughters, Dream, 7, and Summer-Jade, 6, and relaxing with family and friends in Masterton for a few weeks "because the boss said there won't be time to break for the rest of the year".
He is taking the opportunity while in Wairarapa to write new songs for his debut album, which is due for release in June, including a track that will be dedicated to his daughters.
"I usually write in the studio, on the spot, you know - writing radio hits. But writing at home has been great - you get to do whatever you want, say whatever you want."
To cool his lyrical muse, he had on New Year's Eve attended the La De Da music festival at Alana Estate in Martinborough; forsaking what is a 10-day industry "busy time" for his live performance peers that he is keen to work later this year.
"I'd love to do the festival circuit next time round - I watched Kora at La De Da and they went off - but right now it's family, mates, my girls and writing my own music," he said.
"The Edge and ZM have picked up my tracks with a little interview, and that frequency reaching home, and my mates and family hearing what I'm doing, means a lot to me.
"They call to say they heard me on the radio while they were at work. It's great."
He said Illegal Musik is pleased both he and his songs are now reaching back home.
And the soon-to-be international label must be rapt to boot that TV music channels Juice and C4 - just like radio and punters who pay not pirate - have all put Vitale on high rotate.
"They're all about winning the hearts of the hometown - and I'm with that too."